Award-Winning Chess Problems [Paperback ed.] 140271145X, 9781402711459

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Official MENSA Puzzle Book

Award-Winning

CHESS PROBLEMS

Burt Hochberg

Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York

Also by Burt Hochberg Title Chess: The 1972 U.S. Chess Championship Winning With Chess Psychology

(with Pal Benko)

The 64-Square Looking Glass: The Great Game of Chess in World Literature Chess Braintwisters Sit & Solve Chess Problems Mensa Guide to Chess: 30 Days to Great Chess

Mensa and the distinctive table logo are trademarks of American Mensa, Ltd. (in the U.S.), British Mensa, Ltd. (in the U.K.), and Mensa International Limited (in other countries) and are used by permission. Mensa as an organization does not express an opinion as being that of Mensa or have any ideological, philosophical, political or religious affiliations. Mensa specifically dis­ claims any responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the usc and application of any of the contents ofthis book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available Hochberg, Burt. Award-winning chess probl ems I Burt Hochberg. p. cm.-{Official Mensa puzzle book) Includes inde.x. ISBN 1-4027-1145-X 1. Chess problems. I. Title: Chess problems. TI. Title. III. Series. GV1451.H615 2005 794.1'2-dc22 2004066244 2

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Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016

© 2005 by Burt Hochberg

Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing

8 2. NdS#. 54.

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1. Ne7+ would be mate were it not for the unprotected knight on d4. Protecting the knight by 1. Q!>2, however, allows such defenses as 1. ... Bxf5 or 1. ... Nxd4, and protecting it by 1. Rc4 is foiled by 1. . . . Rd3 (so that if 2. �8+ Bc6). The key is 1. �8, threatening 2. Rc5#. If 1. .. . Nxd4 2. Ne7#, or if 1. .. . Bx£5 2. Rc4#, or 1. ... Bxc6 2. �c6#. 55.

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56. This refreshingly clean com­

position is by the great Russian constructor L.K.A. Kubbel. The tempting 1. d4+ fails to 1. . . . Kf4 2. Nd3+ KgS, and after 1 . Ne6+ Kf6 there's no mate. The key is 1. Rf6, threatening 2. Q9.6#. If 1. . . . KdS 2. Nb3#, or 1. . . Kf4/d4, Qxf6+ 2. Ne6#, or 1. . . . Kxf6 2 . Ne4#. .

57. The key to this rather intense

problem is 1 . Bc2, threatening 2. OJFeS#. If 1. . . . Nfg4 2. Rf4#, or 1. . . . Neg4 2. Rd3#, or 1. . . . N£5 2. Rg4#. If 1. . . . B:x£3+ 2. Nd:x£3#. White can't play 1. Bh7 because after 1. . . . �4 or 1. . . Q£5 there's no mate. .

58. With the White king in such

an exposed position near the enemy queen, there's always the possibility of a queen check to spoil White's fun. White takes care of that danger with the sweeping key 1. Qfl . Black's queen remains pinned, and any move by the rook runs into 2. Qf4#. If 1 . . . . �3+ 2. Rxe3#, or 1. . . . �2 2. R(Q2xe2#. If 1. . . . OJFel 2. OJFel#. If 1. . . Nc7/g7/d6/f6 2. Q{x)f6#. .

and now: 1. . . Kd4, Nffi/h8/eS/h4 2. R(x)eS#; 1. . . . Ke3 2. Rc4#; 1. . . . Rf5/xf6/g4/h4/£3/f2/fl 2. QP4#. .

60. The inner workings of this

problem are hard to see because of the mutual pins. The key is 1 . Bg6, threatening 2. d4#. To pre­ vent that, Black can try 1. . . Ndb5, which unpins the White rook and allows 2. Re6#. The defense 1. . . . N cbS also unpins the rook, allowing 2. ReS#. The move 1. . . Ne6 unpins the White queen and allows 2. �4#. .

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61. If you've looked at the hint, you know that the key is a queen move, but to where? The queen is needed to protect the rook and keep the Black king from escap­ ing, but neither 1. Q9.7 Nb3 nor 1. Q£6+ bxc6 does the trick. And 1. Qf7+, 1. Qg6, and 1 . Q!lS all give up the rook and allow the king's escape. But wait: after 1. Q!lS KxbS 2. Bd3# is mate! If 1. . . . Bxb5 then 2 . . . . Qf7# does the job. If 1. . . . Bb3 2. ReS#. If the Nc2 moves, 2. Rb4#. And if the Ncl moves, 2. �2#. 62. Discovered checks by the

59. Sometimes it pays to be nice

to your enemy. At the moment, the Black king has no flight squares, but there's no way to mate it where it stands. So White gives it a flight square: 1. ReS! (blocking the queen's diagonal), 82

bishop don't work because, of course, of 1. . . . Rxe8. But if the Black rook were not on the 8th rank, then 2. Bxc7 would be mate. And if the knight on c7 should move, then 2. Bb8 would be mate. Both of those losing

Black moves come into play when White moves 1. �6, threatening 2. Rxe1#. Now if 1. . . . Ne- 2. 0£13#. If 1 . . . . f2 (to let the king escape to £3), then 2. 0!;2#. If 1. . . . b5, the queen swings over to the right and mates with 2. Qg6#. 63. One of the points of the key,

1 . g7, is that the pawn move clears the square g6 for the knight to mate after 1. . . . e6 2. Ng6#. Other defenses: 1 . . . . Bb5/b7/c8 2. �1#. If l . . . Bxc4+ 2. Nxc4. If 1. . . . Bc5/c7/b8 2. Qix)c5#. Ifl . . . . Nf5/h5/e2/f1/h1 2. R(x)£5#. If 1. . . . Ng4/d3/h3/d1/h1 2. N(x)g4# .

64. White's pawn has two possi­

ble captures, 1 dxc5 and 1. dxe5, both of which are answered by a knight recapture. Can either of those pawn captures be turned into mate? See what happened after 1 . Rd2, making either pawn capture a discovered check. If 1 . . . . cxd4 o r 1 . . . . c 4 2. 0£6#. I f 1 . . . . Ke4 2. dxc5#. I f 1 . . . . exd4 or 1 . . . . N£3+ 2. B(x)£3. If 1 . . . . e4 or 1. . . . Ne4 2. Ne3#.

ening 2. 0!;7#. If 1 . . . . 0£18 or 1 . . . . O!e8, mate comes o n the h­ ftle with 2. Rh2#. The same mate follows 1. . . . Nc6, 1. . . . Rb7, 1 . . . . d5, 1 . . . . e4, o r 1 . . . . Ne4. If 1. . . . QP7 or 1. . . Nc8 2. Qxh8#. If 1 . . . . O!g2+ 2. Nxg2#. If 1 . . . . Rf8/xe8/h5 2. R(x)h5#. Finally, if 1 . . . . N£3 2. Rxg4#. .

66. The key, 1 . 0£8!, threatens 2.

O!c6#. If 1 . . . . �4/a5/c5/d6 2. B£3#. Or if 1 . . . . Ne3 or Nc3 2. B£3#. If 1 . . . . Nf6 2. 0!;6#. And if 1. . . . Qd3 (to be able to put the queen on d5 after the check) 2. cxd3#. Other White moves ; such as 1 . 0£7, allow the defense 1. . . . Qa5 , for now 2. B£3+ is answered by 2 . . . Kxf5 (the knight is unprotected). .

67. The Nd4 could give mate at

c6 if that move didn't cut off the Bb7's protection of the d-pawn (1. Nc6+? Kxd5). The key, 1 . e4, makes that mate threat possible by taking over protection of the d-pawn. If 1 . . . . Bxd5 2. exd5#. If 1 . . . . Nxd4 2. Bxd6#. If 1 . . . . Kxd4 2 . e5#. If 1 . . . . R£5+ 2. ex£5#. If 1 . . . Rx£3+ 2. Nx£3#. .

1. £3 looks promising, cutting of the Black bishops' defense of the g-pawn and threatening 2. O!g4#, but the bishop still defends the pawn with 1. . . . Bx£3. A more surprising mate comes from two other directions: 1. 0!;8, offering the queen to the Black queen and rook and threat65.

68. Black's looming . . . d2 is no reason to fear moving the queen: after 1. 0!;5 d2+, the final answer is 2. Nc3#, which also follows 1 . . . . Rxe5 . I f the Black knight moves, then 2. O!e3#. Finally, the escape attempt 1 . . . . Kd2 is met by 2. QP2#. 83

69. A bishop discovery doesn't work-yet!-because of . . . Nxh4. But after 1. Qfl, threatening 2. Ql>l#, the knight has to move to give the king an escape square, and then the bishop discovery works. 70. First the Bg2 needs to protect the f-pawn to relieve the knight of that duty. Then, 1 . Be4 threat­ ens 2. Nxc4#. If 1. . . . Nxd6+ 2. Bd3#. If 1. . . . Ne5+ 2. Rd3#. If 1. . . Nxe3+ 2. Nb5#. If 1 . . . . Ke5 2 . Nf7/c4#. .

71. "Pinning and winning" is what chess players like to say when they can win a piece by pinning it. The pin has a differ­ ent purpose here, but "pinning and winning" still applies The key, 1. Rb4, pins the Nc4 and thus threatens 2, �5#. If 1. . . . d4 2. Nd5#. If 1. . . . Rd4 2. Ng2#. If 1. . . . Be4 2. Qb.6#. If 1. . . . Ne4 2. Qf5#.

72. Mter 1. Q£2, threatening 2.

�2#, the Nd7 can't move (e.g. 1. . . Nxe5) because of 2. Nc5#. The Nb6 can't go to d5 (prepar­ ing . . . Ne3) because of 2. Bf5#. 1. . . . Kxe5 exposes the king to the discovery 2. Bg8#, and 1. .. . Kd3 is met by 2. Bf5#. If 1 . . . . Bd3 2. Qf4#. .

73. This wide-open construction, with White's queen, both rooks, and both bishops working at 84

maximum efficiency, appears to promise a forceful key, yet the answer is the most modest move possible: 1. d4. By protecting the squares c5 and e5, the pawn move relieves the Nd7 of those duties and allows it to threaten 2. Nb6#. Black defenses: 1. . . . Nxd7 2. �6#; 1. . . Bxd4 2. Nf6#; 1. . . . Ra6/xd4 2. Nb4#; 1. . . . Rd3, Be4+ 2. Q(x)e4#; 1. . Bd3 2 Nc3#. .

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74. This rather complex position is unlocked by the modest 1. c4. First of all, the move frees the c2-square and threatens 2. 0£2#. If Black yields to the tempting 1 . . bxc3 e.p.+, White mates with 2. Bb6#. If 1. . Bxe3 2. �e3#, or 1. . . . Bxc4# 2. �c4#. If 1. . . . Rxg2 (so that if 2 . 0£2# Kxe3) 2. Bx£3#. Finally, if 1 . . . fl=N (to interpose at d2) 2. Rel#. . .

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75. The Black king is frozen in place, but each ofWhite's avail­ able moves lets it off the hook one way or another. For example, 1.